Pubdate: Mon, 12 Jan 2015
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2015 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Patricia M. Monaghan, Registered New Mexico Medical Cannabis Patient
Note: Patricia M. Monaghan is an attorney with focus of practice in 
medical cannabis business law.

MEDICAL POT DOESN'T LEAD TO IMPAIRED DRIVING

Marijuana's Negative Effects 'Pale in Comparison' To Alcohol Abuse on Roads

We're all concerned about reducing impaired driving, but "Road 
Warrior" columnist D'Val Westphal consulted only one biased and 
uninformed source on the topic of cannabis in her Dec. 29th column. 
Her sole source, Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuq., is a retired Bernalillo 
County sheriff's captain. Several of Rehm's statements were glaringly wrong.

First, he states that "(n)ot everyone who drinks alcohol intends to 
become intoxicated. They have a drink with dinner. Smoking marijuana 
has one purpose: to get high." That is absolutely wrong! Twenty-three 
states (including New Mexico) and Washington, D.C., permit the 
medical use of cannabis and according to procon. org there are 
approximately 2.4 million medical cannabis patients in the nation.

These 2.4 million patients are not ingesting medical cannabis to get 
high. It is their medicine; they are using it to relieve nausea 
caused by chemotherapy treatment, to generate an appetite and be able 
to eat and not waste away, to lessen pain and for an assortment of 
other medical conditions. Often, medical cannabis is the exclusive 
medicine to provide any relief to sick and dying patients.

Next Rehm also claimed, "(t)he more you smoke marijuana, the less 
smoke is needed to become high. Unlike alcohol, smoking marijuana 
lowers your tolerance to marijuana." Again, he is entirely wrong. 
Numerous studies report that experienced cannabis users develop 
tolerance and display little to no change in cognitive or psychomotor 
performance.

Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML, testified as an expert 
before the Nevada Subcommittee on the Medical Use Of Marijuana on 
Aug. 21, 2014 that, "(s)everal recent papers in scientific literature 
affirm this phenomenon of cannabis tolerance, such as a 2012 
literature review published in the official journal of the German 
medical association which states, 'Patients who take cannabinoids at 
a constant dosage over an extensive period of time often develop 
tolerance to the impairment of psychomotor performance so they can 
drive vehicles safely.'"

Experienced cannabis consumers, such as the majority of qualified 
medical cannabis patients, become tolerant of its effects.

Finally, Westphal reports that "Rehm says it's important to look at 
new studies that show 'brain damage as a result of smoking 
marijuana.'" It's not clear that Rehm himself has done so.

The most recent study identifying minor differences in the brain 
imaging of habitual cannabis consumers compared to non-users was 
published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Science on 
Nov. 25, 2014. However, this study did not conclude that brains are 
damaged from chronic cannabis use. Instead, MRI scans revealed less 
gray matter in the orbital frontal cortex of cannabis consuming 
subjects compared to those who had never consumed cannabis.

Researchers also identified increased connectivity between certain 
regions of the brain in consistent cannabis users compared with 
non-users. The cannabis users may be functioning in their daily lives 
in a manner that is indistinguishable from controls.

The study indicated that shrinkage seen in brain scans doesn't impact 
functioning. The study's author Francesca Felbey, from the Center for 
BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas explained: "The 
changes in connectivity may be considered a way of compensating for 
the reduction in volume. This may explain why chronic users appear to 
be doing fine."

The negative effects of cannabis use pale in comparison to the 
devastation on our highways caused by alcohol abuse. The National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2012, 10,322 
people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting 
for nearly one-third of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.

Our community's goal, to minimize or eliminate impaired driving, 
should be achieved by employing evidence-based, scientific data, not 
by the proliferation of "Reefer Madness" lies.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom